Connecting Data to Information for Decision-makers

Dr. Ann BartuskaUSDA Research, Education and Economics

January 8, 2013

ESIP Federation Winter Meeting

What I’ll be covering

• The Context – global challenges• Forest Service’s RPA Assessment – information

managers can use • Creating practical research networks - LTAR• Data to information – Digital Data Commons• Going global for information - Global

Agricultural R&D Strategic Platforms

The challenge: meeting the food, water, and energy needs of the future

Situational Analysis• 9 billion people by 2050

• 25% of all land “highly degraded”

• 60-75% of disease outbreaks from animals to humans

• By 2025, 1.8 billion potentially living with absolute water scarcity

•Uncertainty brought by climate change

The RPA Assessment

The Forest and Rangeland Renewable Resources Planning Act of 1974 mandates a national report (RPA Assessment) on the conditions and trends of renewable resources every ten years on all forest and rangelands.

The RPA Assessment provides a snapshot of current U.S. forest and rangeland conditions and trends; identifies drivers of change; and projects 50 years into the future (2010-2060).

The Assessment includes analyses of outdoor recreation, fish and wildlife, wilderness, forests, water, range, urban forests, and the potential effects of climate change on these resources.

2010 RPA Assessment Overview (2/22/12)

2010 RPA ScenariosCharacteristic

Scenario RPA A1B

Scenario RPA A2

ScenarioRPA B2

ScenarioRPA HFW

Linked to International Context through IPCC scenarios

Global Real GDP Growth (2010-

2060)

High (6.2X)

Low (3.2X)

Medium (3.5X)

High (6.2X)

Global Population Growth (2010-

2060)

Medium (1.3X)

High (1.7X)

Medium (1.4X)

Medium (1.3X)

Global Expansion of Primary Biomass Energy Production

High Medium Medium

Fuelwood demand follows

historical trends in all countries

U.S. national projections scaled to county

U.S. GDP Growth (2006-2060)

Medium(3.3X)

Low (2.6X)

Low (2.2X)

High (3.3X)

U.S. Population Growth (2006-

2060)

Medium (1.5X)

High (1.7X)

Low (1.3X)

Medium (1.5X)

Expansion of U.S. Wood Fuel

Feedstock (2006-2060)

High (15.7X)

Medium(9.4X)

Low(3.7X)

Historical(1.6X)

2010 RPA Assessment Overview (2/22/12)

RPA Assessment Regions

2010 RPA Assessment Overview (2/22/12)

2010 RPA Assessment: Key Themes Land development will continue to threaten the

integrity of natural ecosystems. Climate change will alter natural ecosystems

and affect their ability to provide goods and services.

Competition for goods and services from natural ecosystems will increase.

Geographic variation in resource responses to drivers of change will require regional and local strategies to address resource management issues.

2010 RPA Assessment Overview (2/22/12)

Key Theme: Climate Change

Water yield declines across all RPA scenario-climate combinations.

Current and projected yield for the conterminous United States for nine RPA scenario-climate

combinations

2010 RPA Assessment Overview (2/22/12)

Probability of annual water

shortage

Key Theme: Climate Change2060, RPA A2-CGCM3.1

Current

2060, RPA A2-CSIRO-Mk3.5 2060, RPA A2-

MIROC3.2

The vulnerability of the U.S. water supply will increase, especially in the Southwest and Great

Plains.2010 RPA Assessment Overview (2/22/12)

Vision and Goals for an LTAR Network

GoalTo sustain a land-based infrastructure for research,

environmental management testing, and education that enables understanding and forecasting of the Nation’s capacity to provide agricultural commodities and other ecosystem goods and services under changing environmental and resource-use conditions.

VisionTrans-disciplinary science conducted over decades

on the land in different regions, geographically scalable, enhancing the sustainability of agro-ecosystems goods and services.

Criteria for LTAR Network SitesProductivity – track record; level of existing understanding.Infrastructure Capacity – an instrumented watershed or other

long-term research facility large enough to capture landscape-scale processes, heterogeneity, and to integrate across small plot, watershed, and landscape scales.

Data Richness – The length, breadth, depth, and overall quality of the existing data record.

Data Availability/Accessibility -- the state of organization and accessibility of existing data sets.

Geographic Coverage at Various Scales – How a site fits within the overall network, and/or complements other potential network sites in terms of major US agro-ecosystems, the 21 HUC-2 watersheds in the lower 48 states, the 20 NEON Domains, etc.

Partnerships – The strength of existing external partnerships with producers, other stakeholders, universities, etc., including the potential for education and outreach.

Institutional Commitment – to support the continued operation of the site for the next 30-50 years

USDA’s LCA Digital Commons

• Provide transparent & high quality information

• Promote open access to LCA data

• Maximize return on sustainability research investments – Reuse sustainability datasets– Preserve sustainability datasets – Avoid duplication efforts

• Speed up sustainability research– Integrated view– Intelligent tools

U. of Arkansas study estimates that in 2007/8:

• The average gallon of U.S. fluid milk contributed 17.6 lbs of GHG emissions

• Production was the largest source

• Packaging the smallest

LCA Provides Information For Making Smarter Choices

Manure Management Is A Key

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USDA’s Digital Commons for LCA data

The USDA LCA Digital Commons is

• An open-access, inventory of peer-reviewed, formatted, US LCA data

• USDA’s contribution to the collection, organization, management, dissemination, and preservation of LCA data for current and future public and private decision-making and research

Digital Commons Built on Extensive DataKey data sourcesUSDA data sources• ARS Integrated Farm System Model (IFSM)• ERS Agricultural Resource Management Survey (ARMS)• ERS Fertilizer Imports/Exports• ERS Fertilizer Use and Price Summaries• NASS Agricultural Chemical Use Database• NASS Farm and Ranch Irrigation Survey (FRIS) • NASS Quick Stats• NASS Usual Planting and Harvesting Dates for U.S. Field Crops• NRCS Crop Nutrient Database • OCE Agriculture and Forestry Greenhouse Gas InventoryOther US government data sources• USDOE EERE Biomass Feedstock Composition and Property Data• USDOE-Argonne Greenhouse Gases, Regulated Emissions, and

Energy Use in Transportation Model (GREET)• USEPA Emissions & Generation Resource Integrated Database• USEPA NONROAD Model (nonroad engines, equip, and vehicles)• USEPA Tool for the Reduction and Assessment of Chemical and

Other Environmental Impacts (TRACI)• USEPA US Greenhouse Gas Inventory• USGS Minerals Yearbooks• NOAA Satellite and Information Services• NRC Tables of Feed CompositionOther data sources• ASABE (American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers) • CDPR (California Department of Pesticide Regulation) Inerts Dataset• FAO CROPWAT and CLIMWAT• IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) Emission Factor • UNEP-SETAC UseTox• and a wealth of project reports and archival journal articles

NAL Digital Commons Data Products and co-products• Crop production• Co-production of corn silage, cotton seed, crop

residuesFlows from nature and related impacts• Land use• Water withdrawal• Nutrient uptake (C, N, P, K, and water in crops

and co-products)Flows from other unit processes• Field residue burning and management• Soil preparation• Planting or sowing• Seed use • Irrigation• Fertilizer application• Secondary applications (limestone, dolomite,

gypsum, sulfur, zinc, sewage sludge)• Manure application• Pesticide application• Harvest of crops and co-products• Industrial drying, cleaning, and sortingFlows to nature and related impacts• Residue burning emissions• Residue left on the field • Releases from fertilizers, manures, secondary

applications, and pesticides

LCA Digital Commons Network

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LCA Digital Commons

CIRAIG

• Innovation Center for US Dairy• United Soybean Board• Cotton Inc.• American Center for LCA

• U. of Washington• U. of Arkansas • U. Wisconsin • Duke U.

• Commercial tools (SimaPro, GaBi, ..)

Software Development Partners

System Interoperability

Industry Partners

US Federal Partners

Academic Partners

USDA LCA Digital Commons contains

• Tier 1 data on U.S. commodity crop production

• Over 500 assessments of nine major crops:• Corn (138 datasets)• Cotton (93 datasets)• Oats (13 datasets)• Peanuts (11 datasets)• Rice (7 datasets)• Soybeans (144 datasets)• 3 Kinds of Wheat (169 datasets)

Datasets are growing …

Six Strategic PlatformsSix Strategic PlatformsOpen Access to

Scholarly Publications

Open Access to Germplasm Collections

Open Access to Genetic and

Genomic Data

Accelerated Technology

Transfer

Improved Statistics

Assembling Chief Scientists

of R&D